political perspectives from Joni Hudson-Reynolds, an African-American Mom

The Atlanta cheating scandal is a tragedy on so many levels

Yesterday my heart grieved as I saw Atlanta teachers and administrators being led off to prison. How did these college educated men and women get so far off track? They cheated. They cheated the students, the system and themselves and now they are going to prions, but we also have to ask were they also victims? Were they handed unrealistic goals to meet? I saw a clip of a 16 year old testifying against them and she said that she read at a middle school level, but the altered test results claimed she was at grade level. Was she a victim? Yes, but is that strictly the fault of the teachers? Shouldn’t her parents or parent have known that she was not up to par in her reading skills? Don’t get me wrong they should be punished and if they received bonuses they should have to return the money, but should they be sent to prison for years? These defendants were treated like they were members of the mafia. Punish them, but don’t destroy them. Do they really deserve to be roommates with rapists and murderers? Read the linked article and share your thoughts.

Comments

Yes, parents should know if their child is on par, and before the cheating scandal became public knowledge-there were several parents that went to their child’s particular school and voiced their concerns. There was a woman on our local evening news saying she knew her daughter was struggling with division or fractions(something with math) and she was trying to help her and get some extra tutoring, and she was hoping that her daughter could pass the Math portion of the CRCT. This mother wasn’t expecting her child to pass with flying colors, but was just hoping that her child could pass to make it to the next grade level, and if she didn’t pass then her daughter would re-take the CRCT over the summer. The mother told the media that she was Shocked at her daughter’s scores in the math portion and knew something wasn’t checking out, so she went down to her child’s school to talk with her child’s teacher and eventually the Principal. This mother knew someone was fishy and many other parents have spoken out about their child’s test scores and these educators lied to many parents and cheated many black children out of a good education. Yes, parents have to be the first teachers and should know what’s going on, but what happens when a parent is straight lied to about a child’s test scores because educators are trying to keep a job, or get a bonus rather than educate.
Personally, I don’t mind if the former educators get probation, but if they get jail time(my first choice)—no more than two years. Anything over two years is just for show.

For what these so called educators stole from those children, a sentence of life in prison would not be too severe; in fact in some ways it would be commensurate with the sentence they have imposed on many of those children. They counterfeited the education those children were entitled to and that in my opinion is far worse than counterfeiting money. Many of those children will likely have a life which is mired in lack and poverty because they are not learning and developing the skills necessary to compete in the employment marketplace.

Certainly the parents of those students had responsibility for assuring that their child was doing what was necessary for academic achievement but the teachers had responsibility for teaching the required material and holding the student to the requisite standards rather than falsifying that achievement. What they did to those students was in fact criminal and it is fitting that the court found it to be so.

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